Feminism and Modern Philosophy


Book Description

A feminist approach to the history of modern philosophy reveals new insights into the lives and works of major figures such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and David Hume, and is crucial to an appreciation of the advent of feminist philosophy. Feminism and Modern Philosophy introduces students to the main thinkers and themes of modern philosophy from different feminist perspectives, and highlights the role of gender in studying classic philosophical texts. This book shows how the important figures in the history of modern philosophy have been reinterpreted by feminist theory, including: * feminist critiques of Descartes' rationalism * Locke's 'state of nature' as it relates to the family * the charges of misogyny levelled against Kant In addition, the book introduces lesser-studied texts and interpretations, such as: * the metaphysics of Leibniz's contemporary, Anne Conway * Annette Baier's recent presentation and defence of Hume Feminism and Modern Philosophy: An Introduction is written in an accessible and lively style, and each chapter ends with a helpful annotated guide to further reading. It will be appropriate for philosophy as well as gender studies courses looking at the development of modern western thought.




Feminist History of Philosophy: The Recovery and Evaluation of Women's Philosophical Thought


Book Description

Over the course of the past twenty-five years, feminist theory has had a forceful impact upon the history of Western philosophy. The present collection of essays has as its primary aim to evaluate past women’s published philosophical work, and to introduce readers to newly recovered female figures; the collection will also make contributions to the history of the philosophy of gender, and to the history of feminist social and political philosophy, insofar as the collection will discuss women’s views on these issues. The volume contains contributions by an international group of leading historians of philosophy and political thought, whose scholarship represents some of the very best work being done in North and Central America, Canada, Europe and Australia.




Feminism and Ancient Philosophy


Book Description

This book studies the representation of women in the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle and considers the effect on feminism.




Feminist Reflections on the History of Philosophy


Book Description

Feminist work in the history of philosophy has come of age as an innovative field in the history of philosophy. This volume marks that accomplishment with original essays by leading feminist scholars who ask basic questions: What is distinctive of feminist work in the history of philosophy? Is there a method that is distinctive of feminist historical work? How can women philosophers be meaningfully included in the history of the discipline? Who counts as a philosopher? This collection is a unique collaboration among philosophers from North America and the Nordic Countries, including papers written from both analytic and continental philosophical perspectives and discussing both ancient and modern philosophers. Feminist Reflections on the History of Philosophy will be of interest to historians of philosophy, feminist theorists, women's studies faculty and students, and humanists interested in canon formation and transformation.




The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Philosophy


Book Description

This exciting new Handbook offers a comprehensive overview of the contemporary state of the field in feminist philosophy. The editors' introduction and forty-five essays cover feminist critical engagements with philosophy and adjacent scholarly fields, as well as feminist approaches to current debates and crises across the world. Authors cover topics ranging from the ways in which feminist philosophy attends to other systems of oppression, and the gendered, racialized, and classed assumptions embedded in philosophical concepts, to feminist perspectives on prominent subfields of philosophy. The first section contains chapters that explore feminist philosophical engagement with mainstream and marginalized histories and traditions, while the second section parses feminist philosophy's contributions to numerous philosophical subfields, for example metaphysics and bioethics. A third section explores what feminist philosophy can illuminate about crucial moral and political issues of identity, gender, the body, autonomy, prisons, among numerous others. The Handbook concludes with the field's engagement with other theories and movements, including trans studies, queer theory, critical race, theory, postcolonial theory, and decolonial theory. The volume provides a rigorous but accessible resource for students and scholars who are interested in feminist philosophy, and how feminist philosophers situate their work in relation to the philosophical mainstream and other disciplines. Above all it aims to showcase the rich diversity of subject matter, approach, and method among feminist philosophers.




Idealism, Pragmatism, and Feminism


Book Description

Idealism, Pragmatism, and Feminism provides an account of the life and writings of Ella Lyman Cabot (1866-1934), a woman who received formal training, but not formal recognition, in the field of classical American philosophy. It highlights the themes of idealism, pragmatism and feminism as they emerged in the course of career as an educational reformer and ethicist that spanned nearly four decades. Cabot's writings, developed in graduate seminars at Harvard and Radcliffe at the turn of the century complement, and in many cases anticipate, the thinking of the "fathers" of the American philosophical cannon: Charles Sanders Peirce, Josiah Royce, William James, and John Dewey. Her formal philosophical writing focuses on the concepts of growth, creativity, and the moral imagination—a fact that is especially interesting given that these concepts are developed by a woman who faced serious obstacles in her personal and intellectual development. Indeed, these concepts are not merely philosophical ideals, but practical tools that Ella Lyman Cabot used to negotiate the gender roles and intellectual marginalization that she faces at the turn of the century. The discipline of philosophy was very slow to incorporate the insights of women into its self-definition. An analysis of the writings of Ella Lyman Cabot reveals this point, but also the pointed ways in which she sought to express her genuinely creative insights.




Modern Engendering


Book Description

This book contains readings of canonical Western philosophical texts from the viewpoint of current feminist thinking. The contributorsspecifically on the ways in which modern Western philosophy constructs genders and analyzes gender relations. They provide a detailed analysis of modern philosophers' conceptions of masculinity and femininity and call attention to the intertwining of gender with conceptual schema and networks. -- Back cover.




Modern Feminist Thought


Book Description

Outlines the main features of major strands in contemporary second wave feminist thought, and debates the place of feminism in social, political, and personal life during the 1990s. After a retrospective of feminist thought from the 1960s through the mid-1980s, chapters present the origins of aspects of second wave feminism such as liberal, socialist, radical, lesbian, and black feminism, and discuss feminist debates in the 1980s and 1990s, men in feminism, the media and feminist superstars, and theoretical developments. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR




The Thinking Muse


Book Description

... some very serious critiques of French existential phenomenology and post-structuralism... the contributors offer some refreshingly new insights into some tried and 'true' philosophical texts and more recent works of literary theory. -- Philosophy and LiteratureBy bridging the gap between 'analytic' and 'continental' philosophy, the authors of The Thinking Muse: Feminism and the Modern French Philosophy largely overcome the cultural polarity between 'male thinker' and 'female muse'. -- EthicsThese engaging essays by American Feminists bring toether feminist philosophy, existential phenomenology, and recent currents in French poststructuralist thought. The editors provide an excellent introductory overview, making this an ideal book for courses in feminist theory and philosophy and modern French thought. -- Philosopher's IndexThe concerns raised in this volume are substantial.... a solid addition to the canon of American feminist philosophy. -- Philosophy and Literature... a forum for feminist appropriations of existential and post-structuralist philosophy. -- Canadian Philosophical ReviewsMarking a radical shift in the traditional philosophical separation between muse (female) and thinker (male), The Thinking Muse revises the scope and methods of philosophical reflection. These engaging essays by American feminists bring together feminist philosophy, existential phenomenology, and recent currents in French poststructuralist thought.




Feminism and Modern Philosophy


Book Description

A feminist approach towards the history of philosophy and the theories of Hume, Rousseau, Descartes, Lock, Anne Conway, Kant.